Unnatural
by A girl named Cecille
Summary: Derek's POV in the Awakening starting from his second change. Rated T just to be safe...there may be some language later. Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers series or any of the characters though I'd certainly love to
1. Unnatural

_Oh god it's happening again._ I scratched at my arms frantically, willing the itch to leave. This wasn't good. I had been sitting here thinking the same thing for about half an hour, and I didn't know how much longer I could keep myself together. Out my window I could see us approaching a truck stop. As we slowed to a stop I knew what I had to do. Really wishing I wasn't what I was, I got up and walked to the front of the bus. After all, I had to tell someone where I was going.

Gently, I shook Chloe's shoulder, desperately hoping she wouldn't ask to come with me, but also wishing she would. I had to admit, I was scared. The sweat was plastering down my hair, and sticking my clothing to the rest of me. Chloe's skin felt cold through her shirt, though I'm sure it was mostly because I was burning hot. Chloe woke and looked up at me sleepily. She locked eyes with me and hers became wide, as she shot out of her seat.

"You're--" At least I wouldn't have to explain.

"Yeah, we're outside Albany. Truck Stop. I gotta get off." She reached toward Simon, and I tightened my hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I wanted to tell you, in case I don't get back on. I'll be fine. I'll meet you at Andrew's." Of course, I wasn't _sure_ I was going to be fine. Or that I would be able to meet them at Andrew's for that matter. Who knew how long it was going to take to change? If I missed the bus I might get there days afterward. If it was dangerous they would have to leave.

She picked up her extra layers. "I'm coming with you." I knew I should tell her not to, that, again, I would be fine. But I couldn't. Not only did I not want to, I didn't I have time to argue. I turned away from her, taking my hand off her shoulder.

"Yeah, Okay"

"You go ahead," she said, "I'll talk to--" She looked toward Simon, but before I could protest-- I couldn't have him come after as after all-- she went out of the isle and headed toward Tori instead. I followed her advice and went ahead, walking quickly, but not so fast that she couldn't catch up.

I could smell her when she joined me again. "I need to get in as deep as I can," I said to her, "Follow my path. It's muddy" My shoes were sticking in the mud, but I didn't notice much. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked. I paused, then continued after discovering the noise came from the opposite direction. I pictured it in my head, the dog. Then in my mind the dog became a wolf, snarling and growling...what if I...?

"If I finish it, If I seem even close to finishing you need to take off." I hoped she didn't hear the ever-rising panic in my voice. She said nothing. "Chloe.." I began. Oh god what if I _did_ change? What if I ate her or something? What if I chased her down and ripped...

"You aren't going to turn into some bloodthirsty monster, Derek," she said, cutting off the thoughts, "It'll still be you, just as a wolf." That is what Dad said but...

"And you know that based on how much experience with werewolves?"

"Okay, but--"

"You could be right," I conceded, "Dad said it would be like that-- still me in wold form-- but after what those guys did? Playing with our genes? I have no idea what will happen. So you're getting out of here when the time comes or you aren't sticking around at all." I wasn't going to let her be eaten by me. I wanted her company but there was no way I was letting her stay here to be ripped to pieces.

"Okay."

"I mean it Chloe." I said, turning slightly to look at her, see if she was sincere. I did mean it, I would carry her back onto that bus and have Simon restrain her if that was what it took.

"So do I. You're right. We don't know what will happen, and we can't take any chances. As soon as you sprout fangs and a tail, I'll run screaming for the truck stop."

"You can skip the screaming part." Not that she might not end up running and screaming anyway...

"We'll see" The small joke reassured me. I was pretty sure she would go and that was enough to have me continue walking through the forest.

I slowed as I could barely see the lights of the parking lot. Not that I couldn't completely see everything anyway, but I wanted it light enough that Chloe would know when to run. Actually that gave me an idea. I scratched again as my muscles rippled beneath my skin.

"There's a log here, if you want to sit and wait. I'll get a little deeper in-- I'm sure it's not the prettiest sight." She should stay here. It would be safer that way.

"I've seen it before."

"If it goes further, it'll be worse."

"I'm fine." I didn't have it in me to push the issue. We went a little farther in, hopefully not so much that she couldn't see anymore. I stripped off my sweatshirt trying to cool myself a little. My muscles continued to ripple, and I felt as if I might burst. Literally.

"On second thought," said Chloe, "maybe I can't watch. Unless you brought a change of clothes, you really should get undressed this time." I had forgotten. Last time I popped out of my shirt. I hadn't brought any other clothes, so...

"Right. Hold on." I hurried into the brush and stripped down to my boxers. I knew I probably should stay here, but I really did want her support through this. When I came back she was turned away. "I'm decent, Got my shorts on." I said, "Nothing you haven't seen." I could see the very edge of her cheek turn red. Huh. Oh well, no time to analyze it. I dropped to my knees and got on all fours, dropping my head. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself, to force myself not to panic as I could feel the change approaching.

"Sit here." My sweat shirt was on the ground next to me where I pointed, so she wouldn't get too muddy.

"Thanks." She said, kneeling onto it, making a slight squishing noise.

"If it gets to bad, go, I'll understand." I didn't want to force her to do anything. I was scared enough as it is. I didn't want to scare her too.

"I won't." She said. It calmed me, but also made me feel incredibly guilty, for waking her, for taking her off the bus. I could feel it about to begin. I dropped my head again. I closed my eyes bracing myself. I could feel my back shudder, and change, the bones sliding. I winced, squeezing my eyes together tighter. I gulped in the air, trying to cool myself, to stop what was going to happen.

"That's a good idea. Stretch and work it out-" she cut off mid-sentence. Was something wrong? Did something happen that I couldn't see? "Okay, I'll shut up now. You don't need a coach." I laughed, though it sounded a bit like a growl. She thought I cared about that? I didn't care what she was doing as long as she was here, and she was okay.

"Go ahead. Talk."

"If there's anything I can do-- I know there probably isn't, but..." The words tumbled from her mouth. She was worried about _me_. Honestly, I was more worried about becoming a monster and eating her than the actual changing process. It seemed to have paused though, so I wasn't exactly sure how I would feel once it actually started again.

"Just be here."

"That I can manage." She seemed to notice the pause as well. "And we might not even have to worry about it. It seems to be passing. False start, maybe. We should give it a few more minutes, then--" She rambled, though it sounded like more of a wish, than an actual assumption. She cut off as my back shot up, it felt as if it wanted to break the the skin, stretch up into the clouds. A cry escaped from my lips. When it stopped I counted. One Mississippi, Two Mississippi. Another spasm, bringing new pains with it. My back arched, trying to get higher than the clouds, to the moon, the stars...I whimpered lightly, as I tried to think around the agony. I tried to look at Chloe, to calm myself, but was caught by another convulsion. I would get through this...unless of course I didn't. I was pretty much a failed experiment. Maybe I would just naturally terminate.

My hands became talons, digging into the soil trying to find some relief. I could hear footsteps, in the distance. Heavy, probably a man. I accidentally let out another yell, digging further into the earth trying to find the power to keep quiet. Chloe's hand was suddenly on mine, feeling cool and soft. She whispered to me that it would be fine. I tried to concentrate on that and not the pain, the fear. The person came closer, breaking a twig as he stomped along.

"Are you kids in there?" I recognized the scent, and the voice. As I looked up I could actually see him. He had driven our bus. "Someone saw you kids head in here. You've got one minute to come out or the bus leaves." Oh god Chloe was going to be stranded too. I hadn't thought about that. Well crud. She had to leave.

"Go." I whispered to her, sounding more like an animal than myself.

"No."

"You should- "

"I'm not going," She said meeting my eyes, no hint of doubt in them. "Now _shhh._" I did.

"Ten seconds!" he yelled. "I'm not holding up the bus so you kids can screw around in the forest." In a low voice he added, "Darn teenagers." He would walk away soon

"If he comes any closer, you go in there." Chloe pointed to something but I wasn't paying attention. "I'll stop him."

"He won't" Sure enough he left right after.

"That's okay, I have money. We'll catch --" she cut off as another convulsion hit me. I could feel my palms begin to roughen. As I shuddered, I vomited, rather unhappy that Chloe had stuck around for this. I really didn't want to puke on her. Spasm after spasm hit me, causing me to lose everything I had eaten the past few days. My stomach burned and ached with the rest of my body. When I had nothing left to puke up I dry heaved, my throat feeling raw. Chloe moved her hands to my shoulder blades, where I could feel the fur rising and then receding. She whispered that I was doing fine, that everything would be alright. I could barely pay any attention to the words, but they helped all the same. The hair grew, and my bones slid and collided with one another. Finally the seemingly unnatural convulsions stopped and I shook from exhaustion. My head dropped within an inch of the ground. I was so tired I couldn't keep it up. I wasn't going any further, I could already tell. At least that meant it must be over soon. Chloe rubbed my shoulder, as I braced myself for reversal

"It's okay. You're doing great. You're almost there." If only she knew. I shook my head

"No." I tried to say it but I don't think my vocal cords were human enough for her to know what I said.

"That's fine," she said, still trying to reassure me, "You will or you won't you can't rush it." I nodded weakly. Panting, like the dog I was. I could feel my face change, stretch. I tried to keep her from seeing. As she rubbed between my shoulder blades I struggled to stay up on all fours.

"Do you want me to stop? Move away and give you more room?" she asked sounding worried. I shook my head. There was no need. I wasn't going to become a wolf. Either my body was going to go back to normal, or just...give up. I could feel my body changing, as if I was mutating. It felt like false hope. Some of the pain had faded. My body just couldn't continue this anymore. My shaking paused.

"It seems to have stopped again."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I wasn't human enough for that.

"That's probably it, then. For now, this is as far as-- " _Yeah I wish_, I thought as I tightened my muscles, ready for them to become normal again. My spine shot up once more, cracking, popping. It felt as if it might snap. Something slipped from my lips, which was supposed to be a scream, but actually came out as a howl, and I was glad I hadn't spoken before. I could feel myself _becoming_ the wolf inside of me. Or not...it felt wrong...it felt as if my body really _was_ just going to give up. It couldn't take it any more. I was absolutely terrified, and I tried to ready myself for either my life to end, or to become an awful monster. Then the last wave hit me, I knew only one of those things could happen next...but neither did. I seemed to pop back into human form. I gagged, as my mouth tried to normal. Bile dripped from my cheeks, and I shook it off. I began to choke, as my body protested to becoming itself once again. It seemed like my face didn't want to be human. My arms shook beneath me...so tired of holding me up. And then they just...didn't. I plopped into the mud. I sighed heavily, eternally relieved I was still here, still breathing. My muscles ached as I turned onto my side, covering my face with my hand, as it reverted back to normal. Next to me, I could hear a faint clattering, which I soon recognized as Chloe's teeth chattering. When I listened closer I could hear her jacket rustling from her shivers. I took the hand not resting on my face and wrapped it around her ankle. It was cold as ice, so cold that it didn't even feel good against my feverish flesh.

"You're freezing."

"A little." I grasped her knee and pulled her in towards me, so that I was whipped with the frigid wind instead of her. She didn't deserve this, being stuck out in the freezing cold. Eventually though she did stop shivering and some of my guilt, or more accurate my disgust with myself, faded. I changed positions to hold her ankle again.

"How're you doing?" I asked her, voice strained because of my raw throat. After all, what she had seen, what I had been, wasn't really something the human mind is really supposed to be able to handle. Besides that, she had been sitting in the muddy woods, becoming an icicle, and residing right by bushes covered in puke. She giggled.

"I should be asking you that. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Well, now I was, "That must be what'll happen for a few times. A partial Change, then back to normal." Not exactly something I was looking forward to, but not something that warranted her to worry about me. Right?

"Practice runs."

"I guess so." I lowered my hand so my eyes, now normal and safe to reveal, were showing. "You still didn't answer my question. Are you all right?"

"I didn't do anything."

"Yeah. You did." I looked up at her because I had no choice but to find out myself if she wouldn't answer my question. "You did a lot." I met her eyes. Searching them for a sign of distress. But they didn't appear to be anything wrong, her eyes looked...something. There was something in them that I couldn't identify, but at that moment I think we felt the same thing. Our eyes meeting had flipped some switch inside of me, it mad me warm, but not like the fever did. I felt...well I just don't know. Some anonymous _thing _just seemed to nestle inside of me_. _All to soon she turned away, looking into the forest, towards the truck stop. We would have to get a move on soon. I really wanted to get her totally out of the wind.

"Yeah, we gotta go," I said beginning to push myself up with my elbow.

"Not yet. Lie down. Rest." That sounded fantastic. But I was alright for a bit longer.

"I'm--" I sat upright and felt a wave of dizziness come over me, trees swaying and vision blurring. "--_not_ fine. Okay. Just give me a sec." I lay back down in an attempt to ward off the dizziness. As soon as it went away I would get up and go back tot he truck station with her. I would go now if I thought I could walk properly, or that she would let me get up after she saw me sway. I fought to keep my eyes open, knowing that I couldn't sleep yet.

"Close your eyes," she said. I really wished she would stop suggesting such tempting things.

"Just for a minute." I would _not_ sleep. We were going to get out of these woods tonight.

"Mmm-hmm" She murmured. I gave into their weight, letting the forest become a sheet of black. I didn't mean to sleep and I had hoped Chloe would wake me if I did, though I knew it had been a vain hope. Before I knew it there was sun all around me and Chloe was sitting up right by me, eyes open, but not moving. I sat up and was glad I felt like myself again. Chloe didn't respond. She had her knees clutched to her chest. I had expected her to say something to me. Maybe she just hadn't seen me. I walked up next to her, looking at her small figure below me, still unmoving.

"Do you want to head out to the truck stop now?" I asked her. No response. What was wrong? "Chloe?" Oh god, what had happened? I crouched down beside her and waved my hand in front of her eyes. The waves getting more frantic and quick as nothing happened. "Chloe?!" I whispered urgently. She whispered something back. It sounded like "Cheer up, sleepy Jean" I cocked my head confused.

"Chloe?" I asked again, genuinely panicked now. I put my fingers on her shoulder, hoping the contact might make some difference. Finally she responded, turning to face me.

"S-sorry. I drifted off." Okay...so she didn't know anything was wrong.

"With your eyes open? Sitting up? I've been trying to snap you out of it for awhile."

"Oh?" She looked around her and yawned looking sleepy. "Long night." That couldn't be good. She had been sitting here awake all night. What had happened? Oh. _Oh._ My fault again.

"You've been sitting here awake all night?" I let myself fall all the way to the ground. "Because of what happened with me? I know that couldn't have been easy to watch--"

"That's not why." She looked like she meant it too. But what else could have happened in the middle of the woods that would have had this effect on her? Even if it wasn't me, I was the reason she had been in the forest in the first place. What had I done? The self-hatred from last night came back ten-fold.


	2. Fault

******I'm so sorry!!!! I did not mean to mess up chapter two!!! So now th real one's back =)**

**I decided to get rid of the stuff I was talking about here before. But you're reviews still make my day =) I thank you very much for all the feedback.**

** Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers series, that would be Kelley Armstrong's**

"If that's not it then what was it?" I asked, hoping her response would ease my guilt. _My fault. All my fault._ The words repeated through my head, keeping rhythm like a metronome. Pictures flashed past my eyes. A wolf battering itself against a fence. Simon being cornered by the other young werewolves. The kid I threw crumpled, unmoving on the asphalt. Chloe clutching her arm in the Lyle House basement. Just a couple nights ago when I almost threw that girl. Chloe being cut by glass after staying behind to help me with my first change...and here we were. Just like that night I had hurt her again. Making her come out into this forest, causing her to stay up all night. This _thing_ inside me had done so much bad because sometimes I just couldn't keep it inside me. Look what it had done. Again.

"It was nothing"

"It was something. You have been sitting awake all night. You were in a _trance_ before, Chloe. Something is wrong here."

"It doesn't matter. I'm fine now, we should get going."

"Oh no we shouldn't. Seriously, something obviously happened to you and I don't think anything else was in these woods but us. Trust me, I would have smelled them."

"Can't you just drop it?"

"No, Chloe, I really can't. If I thought it didn't involve me I wouldn't ask, but I can't see how it wouldn't seeing as there wasn't anybody else in this forest.

"Fine. It was this girl okay? I thought it was a dog at first, the way she was on the ground. She was in the woods with this man. He was killing her, kicking her, pulling her hair. He drew a knife and split open her throat. I wanted to help her, but..." She let out a sigh. "It wasn't real. Well it was-- once. But I was just seeing some kind of ghostly replay." Unlike I had hoped, my guilt did not lessen. Still my fault she was in this forest.

"And you watched that all night?"

"No, it's back there. I didn't look." she said waving over her shoulder, a slightly ill expression crossing over her face. At least she hadn't watched, much anyway. She must've watched at least twice to know it replayed.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Save me some of this awful pondering.

"You were tired. I didn't want to bother you." Yup, my change--well half change-- is to blame after all.

"Bother me? That is the stupidest--" I paused before finding a more accurate word. After what she had done for me, waking up and going somewhere wouldn't have been such a bothersome thing. "Wrong word. Stubborn, not stupid...and yelling at you right now isn't helping, is it?"

"Not really."

"Next time, wake me up. I don't expect you to tough something out like that and I'm not impressed that you did." Well maybe just a little...

"Yes, sir."

"And next time you don't tell me, I _will_ yell at you."

"Yes, sir." She sounded like a soldier.

"I'm not your drill sergeant, Chloe. I don't _like_ getting on your case all the time." I really don't. I just can't help myself from trying to save her, to have her stop caring so much for everyone else and care more for herself. "I don't mean to..." _upset you so much._ I finished the sentence in my mind before I sighed, shaking my head. I got off my knees and stood up. "Give me a minute to get dressed, and we'll head into the truck stop, warm up, and get some breakfast." I grabbed my clothes of the ground and went into the thicket but continued to plan out our day as I changed.

"The main bus station is in the city. I'm hoping we'll have enough for cab fare. When we get inside, we'll call and get the bus rates and schedule, so we'll know how much money we have left over."

"I've got" --began Chloe reaching into her pocket and pulling out four crumpled bills-- "Eighty. I left the rest in my backpack. I don't like carrying it all around."

"Most of mine is in my backpack, too, which I forgot on the bus." I cussed at myself. Why couldn't I at least do one thing right?

"You were in no shape to be remembering anything last night. I should have thought to grab mine." This was not her fault. She really needed to stop trying to take the blame.

"But _you _were worried about _me._ Never mind, we'll have enough. I've got about a hundred..." I patted my jeans down, trying to find which side the wad of bills was in. When I couldn't find anything I reached inside, but to no avail. I cussed at myself again. "It must have fallen out. Where did you get my jeans from?"

"Right where you left them, folded by the tree. I checked the pockets first. There was just an energy bar wrapper."

"I know I had--" I cut myself off, swearing yet again. "No, I moved the money to my jacket which I left on the bus." Great. Not only was all my money in my jacket, but it would have been another layer to use. Chloe said something about having enough money for the food and trip. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." I muttered to myself. I walked out from the bushes, fully clothed.

"Like I said, you had other things on your mind. We both did. And neither of us is used to playing fugitive yet. We'll learn. For now, let's get inside. I'm freezing." Which is why I should have brought my jacket...

Once we were at the bus station, Chloe headed for the phone while I went in the bathroom. I didn't want to take too much time to I quickly rinsed my hair in the sink, wiped most of the mud off my sweatshirt, and wiped down my T-shirt to make it a little less sticky. I emerged from to the room to find to Chloe, slight smile on her face, finally looking warmed up.

"Good news or bad--" she stopped herself, minutely shaking her head. "Dumb question. Bad, right?"

"Yeah." I didn't think it could get much worse than it already was.

"We've got a two-mile walk to the nearest bus stop, plus one transfer to get to the terminal. The good news? The fare is sixty dollars for two students to New York, so we have enough for breakfast." I felt bad again for forgetting the money. I had wanted to be able to take the cab so she wouldn't freeze again.

We also got deodorant and a comb. I think we were both actually fairly presentable when we left the bathroom again. For breakfast we had peanuts, an energy bar, and a carton of milk each. I only ate half my bar, saving some in case we needed it later.

Chloe was abnormally silent after we began our walk. Whenever I looked over at her she seemed fine but I couldn't help but think that something was still bugging her. "You're quiet this morning."

"Just tired." I tried to just drop it. I really did. But I couldn't stand just walking and not doing anything to make things right. I held out about two minutes or so.

"It's last night, isn't it? If you want to talk about it..."

"Not really." What was I supposed to do with her? She wasn't going to talk about it and there was no way I could push her about it. I already did that way too much. Instead, I settled for glancing at her every few seconds so I knew that she was still there, unharmed, and hadn't broken down. She must have been incredibly annoyed by it because she decided talking to me was better.

"I keep thinking about when I first saw that girl in trouble. When I thought it was real. I was going to do something--"

"What?" I said cutting her off. She shrugged

"Yell. Distract him." _This_ was why she was in trouble so much. Trying to save people, helping others, following the will of ghosts.

"If it was real, you shouldn't have even _thought_ of getting involved. The guy had a knife. He was obviously ready to use it."

"That wasn't really the point." She mumbled to her feet. Of course that wasn't the point. With Chloe it was never about the fact that _she_ might get her throat slit...

"Okay. So the point was..." I left it open so she could fill in the rest.

"I saw that knife and I froze. All I could think about was that girl in the alley, the one who held a knife on me. If last night _had_ been real, I might have let someone die because I was too freaked out to do anything." At least her subconscious wanted to keep her alive.

"But it wasn't real." She looked up at me incredulously. "Okay. Again that wasn't your point. But what happened in that alley-- you still hadn't had time to slow down and..." I made churning gestures with my hands, making them circle around each other slowly, as I searched for that word. "Process it. You talked to Simon about it, right?"

She shook her head.

I frowned at her. This was what was making her go into shock. She needed to talk to _someone. _"But you _did_ tell him what happened"

She shook her head again.

"You should. You need to talk to someone. You sure can't talk to Tori," That annoying little witch, "Liz is probably a good listener, but she's not around." I took in a deep breath then let it out slowly. I could see only one other alternative if she was to be kept from this state. "You could talk to me, but you've probably figured out I'm not good with stuff like that. I mean, if you wanted to..." What was I saying? I _wasn't_ any good at stuff like that. How was I going to help? I sighed quietly so she wouldn't hear. I wouldn't be of any help. My shoulders slumped, in a feeling of uselessness."It should be Simon. He'd want to know what happened, and he'd want you to be the one to tell him." It came out firmer than necessary, yet not firm enough.

She nodded but frowned infinitesimally. So much for getting her to talk it out. "I've been thinking. After what happened, I should learn how too defend myself. Some basic self-defense moves."

"That's a good idea." Finally, some sign of self preservation.

"Great, co could you--"

I cut her off before we had to go down that path. "I'll ask Simon to teach you some." It would be a reason to tell him about the alley. If she wouldn't I would have to, so she could talk about it to someone.

"Oh. I thought... I guess I thought that would be more your area."

"Our dad taught us both. Simon's good. Unless..." I looked down at her, seeing her small frame, and knowing I would be awful at teaching in general. Besides, I relied on my strength and size a lot, but Chloe couldn't really do that being so small. "I mean, if you want, sure, I can help out. But Simon would be a better teacher. He's got the patience for it."

"Right. I'll talk to Simon then." But she said it with that faint frown again. Meaning she probably didn't want to.

The conversation left me feeling warm like last night. Was my fever coming back? I lifted my hand to my forehead, making it looked like I was pushing my hair out of my face, but couldn't tell that anything was wrong. The feeling lasted until the bus station.


	3. Monster

As I began to talk with the woman selling bus tickets the warmth started to slip from my fingertips.

"I cannot sell you the student fare unless you have ID. No matter how young or like students you look."

"Please. We have our tickets from when we bought youth fare instate elsewhere. Can't you make an exception? Isn't that enough to prove we're students."

"They shouldn't have given you the fare without an ID either. Now leave. You're clogging up the line." I glared at the woman in the booth not ready to give up. This conversation had been going on for several minutes and I was sick of her attitude.

Chloe approached us and had a similar and just as ineffective conversation. She seemed slightly frustrated but only for a split second.

"Okay, adult tickets, then." The leftover heat poured out of me like steam, leaving me frozen.

Barely moving my lips I mumbled, "We don't have enough," and looked at my feet.

"What?"

"It's thirty-eight each for adults. We're at six bucks short." I said not looking up at her. She tried to explain but I knew it wouldn't be of any use. I had already given up. She talked to another woman servicing Greyhound but it went basically the same way. By that time I was actually thawed out.

"We'll figure something out," said Chloe, still seeming optimistic. I began trying to think of some other way to get us there, which I had neglected to do while I was frozen. Well...maybe _we _didn't have to go.

"You go. I'll give you directions to Andrew's house. He can pick me up here--"

"What if he's not there? He could have moved or could be away. Then I'd have to find Simon, use a good chunk of money for us all to come back and get you...." I nodded, realizing it was actually a rather idiotic idea. Why couldn't I _think_ today?

"You lived around here for awhile." She said raising her hands. I could see where this was going. "I know it's not your favorite place to remember, but is there anyone you could borrow ten bucks from?"

"A friend?" Did she really think I would be friends with anyone around here? Let alone remember anyone's name?

"Well, sure, maybe..." I let out a laugh

"Yeah, you sound as doubtful about that as you should. You may have guessed I don't go out of my way to make friends. I don't see the point especially when I'm not in one place long. I've got my dad and Simon. That's enough." Speaking of which I wonder where they are... "I suppose I could find someone. Simon's bound to have a friend of teammate who owed him money. He's bad for stuff like that-- lends it and never asks for it back." I think there might have been someone like that around here, his name was Brian, or Brandon, or something...in my head I'd always thought of him as "that tall guy"...

Chloe pointed out how it was probably best not to show up since we disappeared under not-so-normal circumstances. I silently agreed but in the back of my mind couldn't help but keep thinking about people who might be able to lend us something. Chloe walked over to a map and took a schedule with the fares on it. I looked down of her shoulder. She fidgeted with the paper in her hands nervously. After a minute or so I had finished the math and knew the exact spot we could travel from. I put my finger on the map in front of us.

"There. We can afford the full fare to New York from there."

"As for how we'll get there..." She trailed off. Why couldn't I think of anything at a time like this...maybe that guy's name was Bradley...

"Oh!"

"What?" I asked

"Nothing, I was going to say we can hitchhike but, I guess that's not really safe right now..."

"Well you're right it's not, but it gave me an idea. We can _probably_ sneak one at the truck stop without the owner of the vehicle knowing. It's safer, but just as fast." Finally I could contribute something.

"Sounds good. Let's get going so we can get there before it's too dark." Chloe said perkily. She smiled up at me and I rolled my eyes. Stuck in Albany and she's still optimistic.

We took the city bus most of the way back like we did when we came. Chloe finally got to get some sleep. She curled up next to me and leaned against the bit of wall by the window. It wasn't really a long enough ride for her to have gotten more than a few minutes of sleep. She looked so fragile lying there and I thought about the other night. I'd almost hurt that girl, almost done to her what I'd done to that boy. And this small girl next to me had called me on it, and I'd yelled at her for it. I sunk my head into my hands. Chloe had been right. I was mad at myself. I hated being wrong.

When we got to our stop, we hopped off and began our long walk back to the truck stop. My thoughts kept wandering and I would look over at Chloe subconsciously. I had already caught myself three times by the time we were halfway there. I snapped out of the most recent reverie, now the fourth one, just as she began to shiver. She seemed not to notice. The guilt was overwhelming. Trying to ease it, I looked away but I could still hear the acrylic rustling. I took a deep breath. I had to say it sometime, it might as well be now.

"I'm sorry."

"About what?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused. Usually I would have responded sarcastically because, honestly, this was pretty obvious, but it wasn't the time for that.

"This. You helped me last night after all the crap I put you thorough. And this is your reward. Stranded in Albany." Frozen, hungry, exhausted and with me, I added silently in my head.

"It's an adventure. I can't remember the last time I took a city bus. I'm getting my exercise, too. After a week cooped up in Lyle House and that laboratory. I've never been more in the mood for a long walk." She had barely gotten any sleep for days and she wanted to take a long walk? Yeah right. There was no way she was happy. She'd been really quiet all day too, like she was mad. I'd already started the apology so I decided to continue it.

"I know you're tired. And hungry. And pissed off."

"Tired, yes. Hungry, a bit. Pissed off? No." She looked up at me with round eyes, like a dog's, honest and kind. "Seriously. I'm not."

"You've been really quiet." I pointed out. She giggled and I gawked at her.

"I'm _normally_ really quiet. But these last couple weeks have _not _been normal."

"I know you don't always say a lot, you've just been..." I searched around for a good word, but found none. I thought she had been ignoring me, after all just the other night I'd pretty much chewed her out. And then blamed her for getting caught. And then chose to disguise her with hair dye that made her look dead. She was usually energized, now she was just...I shrugged to fill the end of the sentence, as I brushed my hair out of my face. "I thought you were mad" I shoved my frozen hands into my pockets. "About that-- being mad. You were right the other night, after what happened in the alley. I was mad at myself. It just took me awhile to calm down enough o figure that out." Actually, _she_ was what had calmed me down.

"What I did, when we lived here, hurting that kid. I didn't think it could ever happen again." I continued. Looking down the roads, the houses all identical like the one we had lived in. I felt something drop into the pit of my stomach. "I've been thorough it so many times, thinking of what went wrong and what I'd do if I ever got into that situation again, all the coping strategies Dr. Gill taught me."

"Dr. Gill?" she questioned. I explained how Dr. Gill had been a real shrink and that she had taught me enough that I thought I wouldn't do it again.

"...Almost the exact same scenario...and I did the exact same thing." I had almost become the monster again. The thing that doesn't know it's hurting people.

"You stopped yourself before you threw her into the wall" I shook my head minutely. I hadn't stopped me.

"No, _you _stopped me. If you hadn't yelled I would have done it. All those strategies. All that mental rehearsing. And when it happened, I never considered doing anything different. I couldn't. My brain just shut down." And it could shut down again.

"But it didn't take much time to turn it back on again." I shrugged "That's got to be progress right?" she prompted.

"I suppose so." I said, but internally I was yelling to her 'Run, while you still can Chloe. Get as far away as you can. Get back to the bus station and get a ride without me. Meet up with the others, and leave me here. I'm monster. I don't belong with any of you.'

We arrived at the truck stop and sipped at sodas as we waited for a good transport to stow away in. When we saw a good one we followed it's owner out to the vehicle. After he climbed in the front, I broke us into the back. Chloe looked around, kind of dazedly. We had a long ride ahead of us. She was sleeping. No buts about it. I looked around for things to make a make-shift sleeping quarters with. I chose the tarps. When we reached the highway I thought it was safe enough to mess around with them to arrange them properly.

"You need sleep. They stink but..."

"They're softer than cardboard. Thanks."she said half smiling. I heard a rumbling noise. Chloe frowned and looked down at her stomach, trying to be inconspicuous. She was really bad at it. I reached into my pocket and took out the half of an energy bar I had saved before and held it out for her. She looked kind of exasperated.

"No, keep it."

"You'll sleep better if your stomach isn't growling. And don't say it isn't. I can hear it." She sighed, breath coming out as steam, and took it. "And take this," I said pulling off my sweatshirt, "Again, it may not smell great but it's warm."

"You need--" she started to protest, before I cut her off.

"I don't. I've still got a touch of fever from last night." I really wasn't cold at all. She took it reluctantly.

"It's okay, Derek. I'm not mad." That wasn't why I was doing it. I didn't think she was mad. I was grateful to her, and I couldn't stand watching her shiver.

"I know." She settled herself down on her "bed", and ate the bar. She lay there, eyes drooping, but not closing them.

"You can't sleep with your eyes open, Chloe."

"I don't want to drift off, in case anything happens."

"I'm here. Go to sleep." I said softly.

She complied.

As we drove I watched her twitch and shift around. She slept on her side When it began to get late and dark it got cold. Chloe began to shiver in her sleep. I could hear her teeth chatter together. I sat myself beside her so my thigh rested against her back. I leaned my head on the wall of the truck and slowly drifted to sleep.

I was running thorough the forest, chasing a squirrel and rather enjoying myself, paws leaving prints in the snow beneath me. My breath came out in pants, and I could see it on the cold air. I ran into a clearing still playing my game of chase before I smelled it. Blood. Abandoning the squirrel I searched for the source panicked. I was just about to give up when I came across a different smell. Something stronger, that made my hair stand up. _Werewolves._ I ran faster now, both scents growing stronger as I went. I finally reached my destination. I small a group of young boy huddled around. I knew them. They had been with me when I was young. The same wolves that had picked on Simon when he came to visit. The same wolves that had attacked our nurse. I came closer warily, scared of what I would find. All I could see was a bloody mess of a body, indistinguishable features, but somehow I knew.

I woke with a start, not remembering where I was. I turned around and sighed in relief at the person beside me. She was here, safe and sound. I pressed up closer to her and leaned back again sinking into happier dreams. We may have been in a bit of a mess but right then, everything seemed to be okay.


	4. Friend or Foe

**A/N: I am very very very sorry it took so long for me to give you guys the next chapter. I will try as best I can not to make you wait so long next time. Anyhow, enjoy the chapter and feel free to comment. =)**

** Disclaimer: Have I been putting these? I don't remember. If not, then I would like it to be known that I do not own the Darkest Powers series, even though that would be really awesome**

As I woke, I could hear the engine of the van slow and I knew we were off of the highway. Chloe was still sound asleep beside me. Taking this as a sign that we were about to stop I moved toward the back of the van and peeked out of the door to see where we were. There wasn't much around here besides huge clusters of trees, making for perfect cover, and the truck stop we were about to turn into. We were close enough to where we needed to be that we could get off here. I would rather have been somewhere more inhabited but I didn't know when he'd stop next. The driver was just pushing on the breaks to stop us as I heard Chloe stir behind me.

"Is this our stop?" she asked me, still sounding partially asleep.

"We should be far enough. We aren't I a town, though. It's another truck stop." I said, by way of an answer. Chloe made another comment but I wasn't really paying attention, as I'm trying to get a better look at exactly where we're going to stop. "Yeah." I mumbled, agreeing though I didn't know what she said. "I'd rather be in a town...." I confide, hoping she'll see some hidden solution to our problem.

"But he might not stop at one. We should get out while we can." I nodded, internally conceding that it was the only real solution, just as the van stops.

"Get under a tarp, in case he checks the back" I whispered, watching Chloe go and hide before doing so myself. The driver opened up the back and rummaged around muttering something about new supplies. He stopped rummaging I could hear the muffled thunk of him hitting himself in the forehead.

"I did forget the new vise grips, great." he muttered, before shutting the door. He hesitated in front of the door before starting to walk away, and I verbally cautioned Chloe as she started to come out from the tarp. I'm tensed listening for any sound. For some reason his footsteps stayed close to the van, though he was constantly moving around. After about 30 seconds I heard him finally walk in a direction away from the van and then I couldn't hear any steps at all. I waited for a bit and I didn't hear any more noise so I assumed he was too far away to be heard.

"Okay." I said as a signal to Chloe that she could come out now. I peeked out the door and saw one of the large clumps of trees close to us. "Trees to our left. We'll head through there, then circle and grab something to drink from the restaurant before we head out."

"And use the bathroom." Chloe added.

"Yeah. Follow me." I dashed out of the van and toward the woods, trying to go quickly but not so fast that Chloe wouldn't be able to see me. I could hear her footsteps, moving at a pace way slower than mine. I was about to slow down when I heard a second set of quiet, sluggish steps behind us, as if someone was tiptoeing.

The wind began to blow and I could smell the scent of our driver not too far away. I stopped mid-step and whipped around, growling a curse when I found I had been too slow. He sees that I've spotted him and my eyes narrow as he runs and catches Chloe before I can say anything to her. Something snapped inside of me and I broke into a run, not exactly sure what I was going to do, but knowing that he needed to get his hands off of her. The wolf part of me took over, insisting that he be punished. I stop only when I see Chloe making wild motions at me, and I noticed that I was tensed for attack. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself, now only standing several yards from him. Just then, I had almost lost it. Again. I glared over Chloe's head, now realizing why his footsteps leaving had been so strange. He was waiting for us.

"I thought I'd picked up a passenger or two," said Chloe's pony-tailed captor, as he turned Chloe to face him. I stretched and squeezed my hands in an attempt to control myself, still breathing heavily.

"W-we didn't take anything," she stuttered. "I'm sorry. We just needed a ride."

"Jesus," the guy said, shifting Chloe around for a better look at her. "How old are you?" He stared at her in a way that made my eyes narrow.

"F-fifteen."

"Just barely, I'll bet." He shook his head, and I knew that he was not going to just let her go. I stopped listening, and in my mind I try to remember how Simon and I had gotten out of these situations before. I kept my gaze fixed on him, hoping I would catch the tell-tale tensing of his muscles before he bolted with Chloe. I was growling and it was helping me keep myself in my right mind. Thankfully, the growl was too deep for either of them to hear. Slowly, I began to take careful, measured steps towards them, still intent on keeping watch on the guy's motions. My focus was mainly on the guy but I was noticing Chloe too. She reached and touched the knife she still had. Noticing that I'm paying attention to her, she locked eyes with me and asked me something silently. I nodded at her. I was still in control, though I'm quite sure I could have given into my internal beast, violently thrown him away from Chloe, and still been rather satisfied. The man continued to talk and I paused my advancement toward him, catching the end of one of his sentences.

"...not as bad as you think."

"And if it is?" Chloe asked him, staring straight into his eyes, trying to challenge him with her words. The man slowly nods.

"All right. Maybe that's so. It happens, more than you think, but there are other ways to deal with it. Places you can go. People who can help." The man said, in an almost pleading sort of tone. I took a deep breath and tried to reason with myself. Simon's usually the one who talks us out of this sort of thing, but I didn't really want to hurt the guy. He was trying to help after all. I wasn't much of a negotiator, but I thought I should probably try just a bit.

"We're fine." I said, making sure it was just audible. People usually think I'm scarier when I'm louder. The man shook his head at me, looking pitying.

"You're not fine, son. You're what, seventeen? On the run? Catching rides in the back of vans?"

"We're fine." When I said it I had meant for it to sound like I was reasonable, but my temper got a hold of me and I'm growling instead. I took another calming breath and, realizing that I'm in an attack position, backed off a bit. I cleared my throat and tried to think of what sort of phrase Simon may use. "We appreciate your concern, sir" _Now let go of her_ I added in my head.

The man responded but I ignored him again, as I tried not to lose it. My gaze is still fixed on him and I notice his hand tighten around Chloe's shoulder as he said something. I immediately begin to listen again.

"...Now come on." He said, mainly at Chloe, but I knew he'd like me to come as well. His hand tensed on Chloe's shoulder.

I stepped forward, but otherwise tried to keep myself appearing diplomatic. "Sorry, sir, but we can't do that."

"Yes, you can." A threatening sort of glint appeared in the man's eye. I motioned for Chloe to come towards me, hoping that if she showed resistance that he would let go. Apparently, this had the opposite effect as the man squeezed her shoulder tight, definitely not willing to let her go.

Screw diplomatic, he needed to get his hands the heck off her. It was about time I used _my_ methods to escape. "Let her go." I growled.

"No, son. I won't hurt your friend, but I'm going to take her inside and call someone who can help. I'm hoping you'll come with us, but that's your choice." I was about to counter with something when another voice came to my attention.

"Go." Chloe spoke low and soft, obviously intending me to be the only one to hear. "I'll catch up." Like hell, I was leaving. I was the reason she was even here in the first place. It's not like I could just abandon her now. I wasn't going anywhere until that guy let go of her.

"I'm going to ask you again, sir, let her go." I gave him one last chance, barely keeping myself from tearing his arms off, right this second.

"That sounds an awful lot like a threat..." I half listened focusing more on counting down in my head 5...4...3...2...1...I silently sprang at him, much too fast for him to react. I took him into a choke hold, actually strangling him for a few seconds before he relinquished his hold on Chloe. When she was safe I gave him enough slack so he could breathe. I was calm now that she was out of danger.

"We don't want to hurt you either, but you can see—" I said, totally cutting off his air and lifting his up a bit— "that I could. I know you're trying to help us, but you don't understand the situation." I turned to Chloe. "Run back to the van. Grab rope and some rags."

She followed the instruction quickly, and I tied him up, not too tight, and left him sitting inside the van, with the back door open. When I finished we ran like hell until we couldn't see the station anymore. For awhile we walked in an uncomfortable silence. I knew she was kind of bothered by what we had done. When I could take it no longer I finally decided to broach the subject with her.

"You don't think we did the right thing." I stated blandly.

She shrugged, but nothing else

"I didn't tie him too tight. He'll gt out in an hour, probably less, and I left his cell phone right there, in case there's any problem."

She nodded. This was not how I had hoped this conversation would go.

We lapsed into silence again. Unfortunately, my curiosity is not that easy to brush aside. I kept quiet for as long as I could.

"What would you have done?" I asked, picking something that she couldn't just nod or shake her head too. I half-expected her to shrug again.

"You know my plan. It's the one you pretended not to hear." Oh crud, I'd forgotten about that. I wasn't sure what to say to that. She clearly knew I'd ignored it, but I didn't really want to admit to it.

I gave in quickly when the silence came back. "Yeah, okay. I heard. But it didn't look to me like he was going to give you a chance to escape. I knew I could take him down safely, without hurting him, before things got worse. And if I can do that, then that's the choice I'm going to make. It's how our dad taught us to handle situations like that." Truthfully it was how he taught _me _to handle situations like that. Simon could always smooth talk. I knew this would get her talking. Chloe was incredibly moral, so I expected a bit of a rant on how things could have worked out. I was even looking forward to it. But, as usual, Chloe didn't do what I predicted.

"You're right." she said nodding. That definitely wasn't what I had expected... "I don't have experience with this stuff, these kinds of decisions. With the girl in the alley or the Edison Group, the answer was easy. If someone's trying to hurt us we have every right to strike back. It's just..." I half-smiled glad she'd finally started talking and finished what she was trying to say.

"That guy was trying to help a couple of runaways. He didn't deserve to end up bound and gagged." I used my tone to make it into a question. Chloe nodded in agreement, and I took that as a sign to continue. "Even someone like that is a threat, Chloe. Whether he means to be or not. We had to get away or his 'help' would have landed us back with the Edison group"

"I know." She was agreeing with me much more than usual today...it was kind of eerie. Just then a car passes and I can feel Chloe tense and hear her breathing quiet. She looks down at the ground, a somber look on her face. I know what she's thinking, and she confirms it a few seconds later.

"We can't trust anyone now, even the good guys..."

"Yeah. Sucks, doesn't it?" Even without her saying anything, I know her answer from her expression as she watches the car slowly go out of view.

(**A/N)–I'm probably going to skip over some of the stuff coming up, so I can get to the werewolf part faster, since I know that you guys have wanted that part. I might start it in the next chapter...don't get your hopes up though...**

**Anyway thanks for reading =) Any comments, questions, or constructive criticism is welcome**


	5. Smile

**(A/N): Sorry, I lied. I like this part of the book too (I like all of this book actually), so I had to give it a chapter. I couldn't skip it. Look forward to werewolves in the next one though. For now this will have to do. Thanks for reading =)**

**I'd like to thank my AMAZING reviewers. You are all fantastic!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Darkest Powers. All of these characters come from the brilliant mind of Kelley Armstrong.**

**This chapter (well the end mostly) is dedicated to _burning impossibly bright_ who has always been very fond of Derek's warm, fuzzy feelings. So here's to you =)**

Chloe and I walked peacefully along the country road. Unfortunately, every time a dog was out in their yard we (though really they were barking at just me)were barked at loudly, and I would have to stare them down before they would shut up and leave us be.

Chloe barely seemed to notice, only showing that she knew who they were really barking at when she asked, "Do they always back down like that?"

"Depends on the dog. Big country dogs like these? Yeah. It's the fancy city ones that give me trouble. Overbred, Dad says. Makes them skittish and screw up their wiring. I had a Chihuahua attack me last year." I tell her, showing her the scar the obnoxious animal left on my hand.

Chloe laughed, though clearly trying to be polite about it. "A Chihuahua?" I launched into my dramatic story: Wolf versus the Rat-dog (I really hate Chihuahuas, okay?).

At the end she asked, "So do all animals react that way to you? I know you said rats steer clear." Unfortunately, rat-dogs didn't...

"Most do. They see a human, but they smell something else. It confuses them. Canines are the worst, though...No, cats are the worst. I really don't like cats." Chloe laughed again. I was glad to see her happy after all the stuff that had happened last night and earlier today.

The shadows from the houses lengthened as it got later. Our side of the street was completely shaded by now. I thought Chloe would be cold again, so I walked us over to the other side before I picked up the conversation.

"I went to the zoo once," I said. "Fifth grade field trip. Dad said I couldn't because of the werewolf thing. I was pissed. Really pissed. Back then, I didn't freak animals out. I just made them nervous. So I decided Dad was being unfair and went anyway." I don't what possessed me to tell _this_ story except that it was slightly relevant, and it was Chloe. Though I'm not sure why the latter was a reason at all.

"How?" she asked, referring to how I went without Dad's permission.

"Forged his name and saved my allowance."

"So what happened?"

"Pretty much what Dad figured. I mad the predators nervous and totally freaked out the prey animals. My classmates thought it was cool, though. They got to see an elephant charge."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I felt bad. So I stayed back from the pens after that. They weren't what I wanted to see anyway."

"Which was? Wait. The wolves, right?"

I nodded, ashamed of myself all over again.

"You wanted to see if they'd recognize you as one of them." she said it as a statement and not as a question which sort of bugged me. I got defensive.

"Nah. Nothing like that." I was quiet for awhile, not wanting to admit she was right. Dammit! Why did she always understand things like that? I finally conceded, knowing she knew anyway. "Okay. Exactly like that. I had this..." I tried to find the word I was looking for

"Fantasy?" Chloe suggested. I glared at her. Again, she was probably right, but she was making it out like I had been some kind of ridiculous dreamer, like a kid who'd watched Pinocchio one too many times.

"This _idea_ that they'd smell me and..." I shrugged, "I don't know what. Just that they'd do something. That something would happen."

"Did it?"

"Sure, if you consider it cool to watch a wold batter itself bloody against the fence." I internally winced just remembering it.

"Oh." _Oh _didn't even begin to cover it.

The rest of the story came out rapidly, about how they'd killed the Alpha. I felt the old wounds of guilt split open as I explained. Chloe, as always, was looking at the glass half full.

"You didn't mean for that to happen"

"That's no excuse. Dad taught me about wolves. I knew how they behaved. I'd seen it with the other boys, the other subjects..." My gosh, if Chloe was stuck alone with me for too long she was going to be such a pessimist.

"Do you remember them? Simon wasn't sure you did." As she said it I realized that I'd given away that I knew more about my lab life then I had ever told Simon or Dad.

"Yeah. I do." I rubbed the back of my neck, figuring that I should tell her. She'd catch me if I lied now and Chloe's not going to say anything anyway. As I said it I noticed that her feet were dragging more than before. "You getting tired?"

"A little." The tiredness in her voice said she was more than a little tired. It also brought me back to sanity, which I had clearly been missing these past few minutes. What was I thinking, telling Chloe all of the werewolf stuff? I could've kicked myself. This wasn't the time to scare her—not that she didn't need a good scaring. What Chloe really needed was sleep, which was probably going to be more difficult to get if I was telling her werewolf stories.

"It shouldn't be far now. So, uh..." I searched for a topic, any topic, that did not have to do with something supernatural, "That special school you go to. You take theater?"

And so for the rest of the journey we talked about easier things, things that did not appear in horror movies, with the exception of when Chloe told me about the bad props the film group at her school had access to. For once we weren't fighting, weren't running, we were just talking...

(Chapter ended in the book)

When we reached he next town we easily found a place where they sold bus tickets, a flower shop run by a nice old woman. Once again, when we asked for youth tickets we were given them happily, with a kind, "Thanks for stoppin' by!" as we left.

I was really rather frustrated. That meant we hadn't had to walk so far. I let loose my frustration by growling, though in a way so no one could hear me. Soon though, I found that I was glad to have gone this far because it left us with extra money which was soon needed when my growls were overlapped with the sound of stomachs rumbling, namely ours.

Thankful, for once, that I had canine senses, I sniffed out a fast-food Chinese place. The line was long and I offered to wait while Chloe grabbed us a table. The line moved slowly and I was mostly trying to tune out all of the loud noise that was going on around me, so it took me awhile to notice what was happening. When I was second in line, I heard Chloe's voice, coupled with some laughter of boys. "Wh-What's wrong? Wh-what did I do?" I head Chloe say, sounding scared and upset. It only took me a second to realize what happened, thinking back I had heard Chloe talking this entire time, but when I turned around to look there was no one there. Ghost Without really thinking I got out of line and walked over glaring at the guys who'd been laughing at her.

Chloe had jumped to her feet now. We were surrounded by people laughing, calling her crazy, schizo. Chloe showed no signs of movement, just standing there looking hurt, scared. It was the same sort of face she wore when our conversation in the Lyle House basement had gone astray. She had the same haunted eyes, the same pained expression. I reached out and took her arm, gently so as not to scare her more.

"Come on." All I wanted was to get her out of her and get that look off her face. That is until one of the guys who had first started laughing called out to me.

"Yeah, I think your girlfriend's day pass has expired." Then I wanted to rip his face off. I flt the familiar feeling of something warping in my mind. I saw red and I seriously considered snapping his neck.

Thankfully, Chloe seemed to see this and squeezed my arm. Immediately when I saw her the anger faded away, replaced with the very strong desire to get her the hell away from these people.

"Trolling for chicks at the psych ward? Now _that's _desperate." said another one of the snickering boys. It took a bit of control but I didn't punch him. Mostly I was worried about Chloe now, and it was going to take a lot for me to pay attention to much else.

When we got outside and walked past the window everyone kept staring at us, and Chloe seemed in a trance, unable to not stare back. I switched sides with her so she couldn't look in anymore. She was still upset, and while I was a really sucky person when it came to comfort, I did try my hand at it. An unhappy Chloe was something I seemed to just not be able to bear.

"They didn't need to do that. Those kids, sure. They're idiots. But the grown-ups should know better. What if you _were_ mentally ill." I led us around to the parking lot, stopping under the shadow cast by the building's overhang. I didn't think either of us was in a state of mind that would be safe to walk around in.

"You'll never see them again. And if they'd treat a real mentally ill person like that, they you shouldn't care what they think. Bunch of morons." I'll admit her responses were not really encouraging my whole comforting attempt. All she did was shiver, which prompted m to move into a position that would protect her from the wind. For whatever reason, this seemed to finally get her to talk.

"W-we should go. You need to eat. I'm sorry."

"For what? Talking to yourself? So what? People do it all the time. They should have ignored it." Really. She didn't need to apologize, I hadn't even thought about the food.

"Would you?" Chloe asked.

"Sure. None of my business. I—"

"—wouldn't laugh or stare. I know. But you couldn't ignore it. Maybe you'd pretend not to notice, but you'd think about it, about the person doing it, what was wrong with her, whether she was going to freak out a pull a gun." She wrapped her arms around herself, from the cold or the discomfort I wasn't sure. "I'm babbling. But you know what I mean. I was sitting in a restaurant carrying on a conversation with someone and I never even guessed she was a ghost."

So that was what was worrying her. I felt quite a bit less antagonistic towards the people inside. "You'll figure it out." I said

"How? They _look_ like people. They _sound_ like people. Unless thy walk through the furniture, there's no clue. Do I have to stop talking to strangers? Ignore every person who walks up to me? _That'll_ look normal." She shook her head. "Babbling again. I'm Sorry. And I'm Sorry you got caught up in that."

Again, apologizing for things that weren't her fault! "You think I care?" I put a hand on the wall behind me so I was leaning over her. "You'll work it out. Other necromancers do. You just need to figure out the tricks of the trade."

"Before I get locked up?" She asked.

"Much more of this on-the-run stuff, and you might be going into restaurants, talking to yourself on purpose, trying to get locked up someplace with a bed and a hot shower."

I'd finally gotten her to crack a smile. It seemed to numb me from the bitter wind. "Right now I'll settle for hot food." As she said it I remembered something I'd seen on the way here, something that would, hopefully, earn me another smile.

"How about hot chocolate?"

"What?"

"On the way here I saw one of those fancy coffee places, some Starbucks knockoff. Big armchairs, a fireplace..." Even I was starting to get caught up in the mental image. "It didn't look to busy. This isn't exactly a five-dollar-coffee town."

Luckily for me, this did earn another smile, and warmed me as if w were already in front of the fireplace.

"It's settled then. We'll get brownies or cookies to eat. A real nutritious dinner. Now I think it was this way..." I said heading back in the direction of the bus stop. Chloe followed, seeming happy, though probably still freezing.

Yeah. This was certainly one of my best ideas yet.


End file.
